Chain Reaction
by Oxymoronic Alliteration
Summary: Sometimes one decision can affect your entire day. Written for Newsies Challenge 2


This was written in response to Newsies Challenge #2: 1000 words, starting with "Everything would have been fine if he just hadn't..." and ending with "Mondays were always rotten anyhow."

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Everything would have been fine, if he just hadn't hit the snooze button. At the time, though, Tony "Racetrack" Higgins didn't realize how valuable those nine minutes could have been to his day.

Waking up at 6:24, he calculated in his head how long he would have to get ready for the day: Shower (eight minutes), comb hair (three minutes), brush teeth (two minutes), get dressed (five minutes), and walk to the bus stop (five minutes). The bus generally arrived at 6:45 on the dot, and though he was failing math, he was pretty sure the minutes he had given himself to do each thing added up to more time than he had. Re-calculating, he gave himself seven minutes for his shower, two minutes for his hair, and figured if he ran, he could make it to the stop in four minutes.

He rushed through his morning routine and doing everything short of setting a timer to ensure he didn't exceed his allotted time. He checked his watch as he walked out his front door and was relieved to see it was only 6:39, giving him one minute to spare. He didn't run, but he didn't waste time walking to the bus stop. It was only at 6:42, when he had walked halfway there, that he felt like he was forgetting something. Namely, he was forgetting the history research paper that was due that very day. The ten page research paper that was worth a chunk of their grade.

He was faced with a difficult decision: late for school or loose a letter grade for turning in a late paper? With a groan, he turned and sprinted back to his house.

When he eventually reached the bus stop a few minutes later, he wasn't surprised to find no one there. Either the bus was late and no one else in his neighborhood was taking it that morning or he had missed it and would have to walk to school. The latter seemed the most likely.

As he entered the school building (at 7:23 he noted with a wince) he was met by a stern hall monitor who promptly sent him to the principal's office to receive a late pass. By the time he reached his first period (chemistry) his class was in the middle of a test. The teacher informed him he would not have enough time to properly take the test, so he could simply come in during lunch to take it. Since he was late, though, his score would automatically drop one letter grade. Since being allowed to study while the others took the test would give him an unfair advantage, he was told to write an essay on why punctuality is important.

By the time lunch rolled around his stomach, which had been denied even a stale Pop Tart that morning, was growling ferociously. He suppressed it and instead headed back to his chemistry class, hoping to get the test done with as quickly as possible. Had he actually studied for the test, he may have finished with enough time to grab a quick slice of pizza from the cafeteria instead of spending the bulk of his lunch period trying to match 50 elements with their corresponding symbol from the Periodic Table.

He handed in his test with only two minutes to spare. He considered forgoing lunch, but his stomach grumbled in protest. He knew his only choice would be the vending machine, but he would likely have to sneak it into his algebra II class. It would be a risk, but his stomach would never forgive him if he didn't take it. One minute later he entered his classroom with a small bag of Doritos hidden in his knapsack.

Located at the back of the room, he gently opened the cellophane bag and nibbled at a one chip. His stomach getting restless, he took a chance and bit into a chip, with a loud crunch. He paused, expecting the teacher to turn around at the sound of his bite, but no one noticed. Relieved, he thought he was home free. He daringly took another large bite. At the sound, the teacher whipped around and scanned the class. Tony tried to quickly hide the bag, but only succeeded in dropping the bag and spilling the remaining chips across the floor. His stomach flipped and he wasn't at all surprised when a detention slip for that day landed on his desk. He sunk further into his desk.

That afternoon found him sitting in a classroom with two girls who were sitting in the back doing manicures, a boy who had a keen interest in drawing lewd images on the desk, and an ancient teacher who he guessed had been teaching since Calvin Coolidge was in office. An hour and a half detention meant he'd get out at 4:30. Which meant the bus would be long gone. Which meant he'd be walking home. The clouds outside weren't looking very promising and the faint sound of thunder didn't help either.

He thought back to that morning. Had he not hit the snooze button, he would have gotten up nine minutes earlier. Had he gotten up nine minutes earlier, he wouldn't have missed the bus even if he had gone back to get his forgotten research paper. If he hadn't missed the bus, he wouldn't have had to make up the test. If he hadn't had to make up the test he wouldn't have missed lunch. If he hadn't missed lunch he wouldn't have sneaked food into class. If he hadn't sneaked food into class he wouldn't be sitting in detention at that moment. If he wasn't sitting in detention at that moment he wouldn't be walking home in the rain.

The whole day was one large chain reaction that returned to those nine minutes. He wanted to blame those minutes, but he figured fate would have smote him eventually. Not to mention it was Monday. Mondays were always rotten anyhow.


End file.
